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Andrew spatharokandidatos, pistikos, imperial notarios ton oxeon, and kourator of Tarsos (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of six lines. Border of dots.

ΚΕ,Θ,
ΤΣΔ
.ΝΔΡΕΑ
.ΠΑΘ,ΚΑΝ
ˋΠΗΣ
ΤΙΚΟ

Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) τῷ σῷ δ(ούλῳ) [Ἀ]νδρέᾳ [σ]παθ(αρο)κανδ(ι)δ(άτῳ), πηστικὸ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines preceded and followed by decoration. Border of dots.

·
,ΝΟΤΑ
Ρ,ΤΝ
ΞΕΝ.
ΚΡΑΤ,Ρ
ΤΑΡΣ
·

β(ασιλικῷ) νοταρ(ίῳ) τῶν ὠξέων, [(καὶ)] κουράτ(ο)ρ(ι) Ταρσ(οῦ)

Obverse

Inscription of six lines. Border of dots.

ΚΕ,Θ,
ΤΣΔ
.ΝΔΡΕΑ
.ΠΑΘ,ΚΑΝ
ˋΠΗΣ
ΤΙΚΟ

Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) τῷ σῷ δ(ούλῳ) [Ἀ]νδρέᾳ [σ]παθ(αρο)κανδ(ι)δ(άτῳ), πηστικὸ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines preceded and followed by decoration. Border of dots.

·
,ΝΟΤΑ
Ρ,ΤΝ
ΞΕΝ.
ΚΡΑΤ,Ρ
ΤΑΡΣ
·

β(ασιλικῷ) νοταρ(ίῳ) τῶν ὠξέων, [(καὶ)] κουράτ(ο)ρ(ι) Ταρσ(οῦ)

Accession number BZS 1947.2.183
Diameter 28.0 mm; field: 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 5.2.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἀνδρέᾳ σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ, πηστικὸ, βασιλικῷ νοταρίῳ τῶν ὠξέων, καὶ κουράτορι Ταρσοῦ.

Lord, help your servant Andrew, spatharokandidatos, pistikos, imperial notarios ton oxeon, and kourator of Tarsos.

Commentary

Tarsos was the most wealthy and powerful of the towns on the Cilician plain. Following its capture by the Arabs and use as a base for raids into  Byzantine territory, it became the focus of Nikephoros Phokas’s eastern campaigns. The city was recaptured and was converted into an imperial kouratoreia, as well as the seat for a strategos, later under the authority of the doux of Antioch. By the end of the eleventh century, control passed into the hands of Armenian chieftains.

The term pistikos and the unusual combination of offices make this an interesting seal. In documentary sources the word pistikos refers to a person authorized to exploit a resource (usually a ship) belonging to another party (B.A. Panchenko, “Βασιλικὸς Πιστικός” and ODB 3:1680–81). An official known as the basilikos pistikos, whose functions are not clear, is named on seals dating from the eighth to the early tenth centuries (cf. Zacos-Veglery, nos. 2328, 2376, 2617, and Zacos, Seals II, no. 99), and some individuals, not after the ninth century, were enrolled in the service of the dromos or public post (ton oxeon; cf. Laurent, Corpus 2: no. 489).

The secure dating of this seal to the eleventh century suggests that pistikos should be read differently, in this case as synonymous with ek prosopou. Three examples of an ek prosopou ton oxeon are known from the eleventh century (John, protospatharios and Constantine, spatharokandidatos: Laurent, Corpus 2: nos. 480, 481, and 482). The present seal owner, however, was already an imperial notarios ton oxeon; it would appear in his case that in this capacity he was (temporarily) entrusted with a particular mission or task relating to the dromos in Cilicia, which he was to carry out in conjunction with his duties as kourator of Tarsos.

For another mention of pistikos in the eleventh century, see the seal of a basilikos kandidatos and pistikos noted in Speck-Sode, Berlin II, no. 132, p. 308, dated to the first half of the eleventh century.

Bibliography